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Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman

Anxiety: A Very Short Introduction explains what anxiety is, why it is a normal and vital part of our emotional life, and the factors that cause it. Are we born with fears or ...
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Anxiety: A Very Short Introduction explains what anxiety is, why it is a normal and vital part of our emotional life, and the factors that cause it. Are we born with fears or do we learn them? What purpose does anxiety serve? How can we treat anxiety disorders? What's happening in our brain when we feel fear? Insights are drawn from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, epidemiology, and clinical trials. The six main anxiety disorders are: phobias; panic disorder and agoraphobia; social anxiety; generalized anxiety disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; and post-traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms, prevalence, causes of each of these disorders, and the treatments for dealing with them, are covered.Less

Uta Frith

Autism: A Very Short Introduction asks: What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are ...
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Autism: A Very Short Introduction asks: What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? It explores the relevance to autism of neuroscience, psychology, brain development, and genetics. Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is little understood. It has captured the public imagination through films and novels portraying individuals with baffling combinations of disability and extraordinary talent, and yet the reality is more often that it places a heavy burden on sufferers and their families.Less

Usha Goswami

Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction examines modern child psychology, tracing its development from birth up until early adolescence. Child Psychology studies the ...
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Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction examines modern child psychology, tracing its development from birth up until early adolescence. Child Psychology studies the process of attachment and ‘bonding’, and it considers how secure attachments will enable the child to progress in the development of self-understanding. The volume also considers an individual’s psychological development during the adolescent years. It poses and discusses a number of questions: how do babies and toddlers develop an understanding of the physical, biological, and social worlds that surrounds them? How do they develop complex abilities and senses such as language and morality? How specifically do children learn languages? How do they develop relationships with siblings and friends?Less

Susan Llewelyn and Katie Aafjes-van Doorn

Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental healthcare worldwide. Clinical Psychology: A Very Short Introduction provides insights into the world of clinical ...
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Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental healthcare worldwide. Clinical Psychology: A Very Short Introduction provides insights into the world of clinical psychologists and their clients or patients, and covers the range of domains of practice, difficulties tackled, and approaches and models used. It considers the challenges and controversies facing the profession today, and also how it varies across the globe. Finally, it discusses key questions surrounding clinical psychology, such as whether it should compete or collaborate with psychiatry; how far it is yet another instrument of social control; what new technology can offer in the future; and whether clinical psychology can ever really be considered a science.Less

Susan Blackmore

Consciousness is ‘the last great mystery for science’. How can a physical brain create our experience of the world? What creates our identity? Do we really have free will? Could ...
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Consciousness is ‘the last great mystery for science’. How can a physical brain create our experience of the world? What creates our identity? Do we really have free will? Could consciousness itself be an illusion? Exciting new developments in brain science are continuing these debates, and the field has now expanded to include biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers. Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction clarifies the potentially confusing arguments, and the major theories, whilst also outlining the amazing pace of neuroscience discoveries. Covering areas such as construction of self in the brain, mechanisms of attention, neural correlates of consciousness, and physiology of altered states of consciousness, it highlights the latest findings.Less

Mary Jane Tacchi and Jan Scott

Covering melancholia, depression, manic depression, and bipolar disorder, Depression: A Very Short Introduction gives a brief account of the history of these concepts, before focusing on ...
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Covering melancholia, depression, manic depression, and bipolar disorder, Depression: A Very Short Introduction gives a brief account of the history of these concepts, before focusing on the descriptions and understanding of depression and bipolar disorders today. It examines the symptoms and signs of clinical depression. It looks at the introduction of modern treatments for individuals with depression, recounting the stories behind the development of antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Exploring the importance of depression and bipolar disorder in society, it also looks at the link between mental health and economic prosperity and between creativity and mood disorders, and concludes by discussing future research and potential new treatments for those with depression.Less

J. Allan Hobson

Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction provides an increasingly complete picture of how dreaming is created by the brain. It explores how the new science of dreaming is affecting ...
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Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction provides an increasingly complete picture of how dreaming is created by the brain. It explores how the new science of dreaming is affecting psychoanalysis theories and how it is helping our understanding of the causes of mental illness. Dreams are investigated to illustrate and explain some of the fascinating discoveries of modern sleep science, while challenging some of the traditionally accepted theories about dream meaning. How dreaming maintains and develops the mind, why we go crazy in our dreams in order to avoid doing so when we are awake, and why sleep is not just good for health, but essential for life is revealed.Less

Dylan Evans

Was love invented by European poets in the Middle Ages or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? ...
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Was love invented by European poets in the Middle Ages or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? Emotion: A Very Short Introduction explores the latest thinking about the emotions, drawing upon a wide range of scientific research, from anthropology and psychology to neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Anthropologists have begun to question their previous views on the cultural relativity of emotional experience; cognitive psychologists have abandoned their exclusive focus on reasoning, perception, and memory, and are rediscovering the importance of affective processes; and neuroscientists and researchers in artificial intelligence have also joined the debate.Less

David Canter

Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction discusses the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process. It includes explanations of criminal ...
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Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction discusses the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process. It includes explanations of criminal behaviour and criminality, including the role of mental disorder in crime, and discusses how forensic psychology contributes to helping investigate the crime and catching the perpetrators. It also explains how psychologists provide guidance to those involved in civil and criminal court proceedings and what expert testimony can be provided by a psychologist about the offender at the trial. Finally, this VSI examines how forensic psychology is used, particularly in prisons, to help in the management, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, once they have been convicted.Less

Anthony Storr

Freud: A Very Short Introduction discusses the life and work of Sigmund Freud. The founder of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only ...
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Freud: A Very Short Introduction discusses the life and work of Sigmund Freud. The founder of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only now, with the hindsight of the half-century since his death, can we assess his true legacy to current thought. This VSI offers a lucid and objective look at Freud's major theories, evaluating whether they have stood the test of time. In the process it also examines Freud's family life, personal traits, and correspondence with contemporaries, assessing him in light of his own ideas.Less